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Being kind online takes on new urgency as socially isolated kids and teens find it’s their only destination
For years, parents and educators have been worried about how kids interact with each other online. Now, online is all they have. The COVID-19 outbreak has kids contained in their homes, attending school online, minimizing face-to-face contact and missing their friends. In the age of social distancing, experts say, families need to pay extra attention...
By Bekah McNeel | April 9, 2020
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‘We’re doing school in a different way’: One non-profit took early lead in preparing districts for distance learning during pandemic
When she read in late February that the coronavirus could infect as many as 70 percent of Americans, Emily Freitag was “primed” to prepare for its effect on schools. She grew up near New Rochelle, New York, one of the first U.S. hotspots of the virus, and her husband, who analyzes international hotel data, saw...
By Laura Fay | April 2, 2020
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How California’s largest community college district is making the switch to teach online in response to Covid-19. “Do your best at this moment”
One of the nation’s largest community college systems is navigating through a chaotic two weeks before it unexpectedly but with paramount necessity transitions to a fully online set of institutions. Just a few scenes from its preparations: A video creation team films science instructors conducting lab experiments. The resulting video will then be posted online...
By Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMatters | March 27, 2020
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School finance expert warns district leaders to prepare for ‘major financial upheaval’ from pandemic
With a recession on the way, states and localities could be making severe cuts to public education over the next year — and many leaders don’t seem to realize it yet. That was the message delivered this week by Marguerite Roza, one of America’s foremost experts in school finance, in a public webinar. Her presentation...
By Kevin Mahnken | March 26, 2020
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Feeling ‘devastated and isolated’ LA parents cope with prolonged school closures while trying to hold onto their jobs, homeschool their kids
Updated April 2 Parents of the nearly 700,000 students attending traditional and charter schools in Los Angeles are facing an unprecedented disruption of their children’s routine and their daily lives with the shutdown of L.A. Unified School District’s more than 1,000 campuses. One of the main concerns for district officials and educators trying to control the...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | March 25, 2020
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Need help sorting through the avalanche of online resources for kids who are now learning at home? 11 sites for parents to look at
With schools shuttered and kids at home — some even asked to stay indoors — parents must now balance their work responsibilities with the educational needs of their children. But finding a place to start can prove downright daunting. Sifting through the online options may prove more overwhelming than useful, so we turned to experts to...
By Tim Newcomb | March 20, 2020
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Amid COVID-19 crisis, closed schools converted to grab & go food centers across Los Angeles are saviors to children and adults alike, ‘bring a little more normalcy’
All 60 Grab and Go Food Centers operated by Los Angeles Unified will be open on Friday, March 20. While the Governor and Mayor have both issued “Stay at Home” orders, they stated that they expect essential services like food centers to remain open. This is an advisory LAUSD sent out Thursday. On a...
By Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMatters | March 19, 2020
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At least half of CA’s districts are closed due to coronavirus. A look at LAUSD’s plans to teach, feed students — and how community members reacted on Day 1 of shutdown
Updated, March 17 L.A. Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner in a letter to families late Monday announced that the district at this time is unable to open 40 family resource centers as initially planned, as “state and local health and public safety officials cannot assure us it will be safe for the children and adults.” There...
By Taylor Swaak | March 16, 2020
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After record spending and an ongoing union vs. charter power struggle, at least two L.A. Unified board races appear headed to a run-off
*Updated March 6 At least two competitive L.A. Unified school board races are likely headed to a November runoff following the most heated and costly primary season on record and a campaign that once again became a proxy fight over the future of charter schools. As of early Friday, no one candidate in Districts 3 or...
By Taylor Swaak | March 4, 2020
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California schools expel and suspend Native American students at alarming rates. Districts can’t dismiss the data just because their populations are small, advocates say
In one incident, a teacher grew frustrated with a student because he wouldn’t respond to her, not realizing that in the student’s Native American tribe, exhibiting silence is a sign of respect to an authority figure. As punishment, the student was denied recess. In another instance, a Native American student was accused of consuming drugs,...
By Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMatters | March 3, 2020